Think Fast: What makes you better when others do it, too?

This is important. Take two more seconds. 

Let’s say you’re pitching an idea and receive the question above. You want to land your answer with 100% validity.   

Tip: Showcase at least two of the following attributes and all three if possible : 

1. IP. This can be a design, technique, formula, defensible patent, trademark, copyright, model, data set, code, and/or process that allows you to deliver what others cannot. Your special sauce. You want to be more than the best in an existing category. You want to be the only person or business that does what you do. 

2. A valued product or service in a high-demand space. You have the ability to generate results unique to your competitor set. Think: How is what you’re marketing more capable, nimble, accurate, powerful, customer-focused, and/or equipped to operate at scale? How do you see the world differently? While it’s OK to mention price, your answer should show how you’re competing on value.

3. Relevant experience. You have a portfolio of evidence. Everyone does. If it’s not dense, at least you have a track record in something. Translate your something into a compelling reason to believe. If you’ve won before, show me how you’re positioned to win now.  

An playful example: At Acme Amalgamated, we help commuters save time and energy. We are the only company to harness clean hydrogen power for lightweight jetpacks. Our patented design was developed by NASA engineers with a track record of safely launching and landing small rocket-powered vehicles navigated by humans. We are early stage and have already cut our customers’ average commute time by 50%. Our product is selling fast and at a price point similar to e-bikes. (Note: This paragraph was not generated by ChatGPT. The fictitious jetpack thing is mine.) 

Your answer: Write it, draw it, unpack it, repack it, take it for a walk.

The prep exercise to identify and express your business or individual IP, value, and relevant experience tends to be harder than it looks. Most people struggle with it - including those who claim they don’t. It’s OK! And it’s OK to revise it based upon new breakthroughs and evidence. 

Remember: You’re not generating revenue for being average. If you are, then it won’t last long and you’ll need to consult Tips 1-3 above.  

This elevator is going one floor

Of course there’s more you could say. Anyone and many bots can generate words. There’s just no time. This is about putting in the hard thinking to say what must be said *in your unique voice*. 

Then saying it.

Start with the end in mind. And other tips for marketing and content success.

I want you to hit your target. To do it, you’ll need to think and act more strategically than ever before.

Here’s a voice-over of a short .ppt presentation on how to make the most of content for brand and product marketing.

How I made this:

• By recording presentation audio in FCPX using a Blue Snowball microphone.

• Then using QuickTime to record the accompanying video of the .ppt presentation. The reason I recorded audio and video separately was so ensure slide transitions were accurately timed.

• I then uploaded the .mov presentation recording to FCPX.

• Then combined the audio and video files in FCPX. Seamless.

• Then uploaded the video to vimeo.

• Production time: 25 minutes.

Back soon.

Working to code: A punch list for delivering the goods

If you’re going to compete over the long haul, then you’ll need a plan. Your plan will need a foundation. And your foundation - like a construction project - must be built to code.

You are responsible for your code and whether or not you have a code. As you might gather, I’m a fan.  

When you review work, judge your process and results against your code. Did it hold up? What could have gone better? Were expectations exceeded or did they fall short? Are modifications necessary?   

You have license over your code. It exists for you and your team. It may be pragmatic, aspirational, or both.

When I look at my code for MoreBetterNow, I see a path to success in marketing and strategy. Your code may be engineering-related, or support goals for finance, HR, operations, or any other set of tasks requiring focused attention and a quest.    

• It’s 5:30am and pitch dark. first point: ☑️ 

• Sent this post into the wild: last point: ☑️ 

• All others tracking to plan. 

Forward ->

*Inspiration: Tom Sachs and his Ten Bullets.   

Questions change everything: Reframe how you think about your expertise

As a form of professional introduction, common practice is to recite what you do and have done. For example, ‘I’m an architect,’ or ‘I designed the new addition to the Guggenheim.’ Data points that are helpful but don’t address evolving needs of the here-and-now.

Consider supplementing your self-description with questions you enjoy answering. These may be questions you’ve recently fielded or that are top of mind among your target audience.   

Even if you don’t publicize your questions, compiling a list is a useful exercise because it adds relatability to how you think about your work. It forces you to walk in the shoes of your customers and begs critique of whether or not your answers are valid responses to questions that matter today. It makes you think ahead and not get bogged down in history. (Note this is a technique that’s applicable at the brand, product, or individual level.)  

Here’s an example list for MoreBetterNow, where my target audience is marketing and communication leaders: 

• How can we convey our brand promise across channels and formats?

• What is an accurate, data-driven, and easy-to-understand way to communicate our value prop?

• How can I get a content marketing program off the ground (or turned around) fast?

• How can I implement a customer evidence program that reinforces our integrated marketing strategy? 

• Where can we lead the market on customer-first ideas and research? 

• Where’s the point of tension I need to address in my marketing - and what’s the best way to resolve it?

• How can I equip my sales and marketing teams with the content they need for each stage of the customer journey?

• How can I ensure our PR and AR incorporate our core messages?

• What are the highest-impact metrics in our business model and how can I show colleagues and partners what they mean? 

• And more…

We’re as original as the questions we ask and are prepared to answer. I’ve found the sooner I can embrace new questions, the more thoroughly I can listen for follow-up questions. And the more resonant my answers will be. 

Shall we begin? 

Back soon. 

A one slide conversation starter

For when time is short and you can’t run long.

The goal of a one-slider (or -pager) is to help audiences ‘get’ what you do in a single glance. It’s not to go deep. That’s for a separate deck or doc and should also be elaborated upon via your web properties.

Here’s an example for MoreBetterNow. You may recognize many of the themes from other blog posts and content on this site.

A one-slider may be applicable for products, services, or entire businesses. Give it a try. I think you’ll find the process valuable. I made mine using Canva and plan to update it over time.

It’s OK if assembling your one-slider isn’t easy. It’s less OK if you pass on doing it because it’s too tough.

May your icon options be abundant and true.

Large font data: A shorthand model for fast answers and sticky stories

As mentioned in my August 9 post, Not your accomplishments, your story, I keep a list of the most clarifying questions I’ve asked and been asked during marketing and strategy interviews. Questions that reveal insights, ideas, and the person behind the profile. I occasionally answer (or re-answer) some of those questions for myself. 

Today I’ll unpack a favorite you might also find helpful.  

Q: What market-driven data point is fascinating to you? 

This is a request for a headline number, or what I commonly refer to as LARGE FONT DATA. It communicates to the reader, listener, or viewer a simple request: If you take away one piece of information from my story, make it this. I want this to stick. 

Large font data does not need to be one data point, though for the sake of audience retention, it’s best to include no more than three. You just need to have one.  

If a candidate gazes upward for divine inspiration, then I’m concerned. If I don’t have an informed number on a critical topic, then I’m even more concerned.  

First the big numbers

I advise companies on how to grow revenue and earn customer love, so when I see a data point like ‘61% of CMOs lack the in-house capabilities to deliver on their strategy,’ I consider the source and write it down. (source: Gartner). To me, 61% is a valid number that will lead to other indicators of where help may be welcome. In my business model, it’s worth a large font.  

Additional examples of large font data include market share, market growth, latent demand, pace of adoption, customer satisfaction, cost/per metrics, and many others.

The key is to have a large font number for your space, regardless of what your space might be. 

Then the opportunities

Large font data cannot exist in isolation. It must be supported by facts that accrue value to the original point. Otherwise it’s a random number.

For example, if just 39% of CMOs have the in-house capabilities they need, what do they need most and where are they likely to find it? This is where we connect the data dots. In the same report, I learned which categories are the highest priority (analytics, customer experience, and martech). It’s like following breadcrumbs.

While one valid data source is good, more are better. By cross-checking additional reports, I learned how few marketers (42% of B2C and 41% of B2B) have a documented content strategy and that quality is the number one contributor to content success (source: semrush). This is all transpiring within the context of a 90% reinvestment rate in content channels (source: hubspot). 

Considering the role of content in capitalizing on analytics, customer experience, and martech, it’s a short walk from one large font data point to supporting points that are nearly as large. To opportunities that are win-win.  

Based upon the example above, many CMOs are under-optimizing their content strategy and as a result missing chances to achieve their highest priorities. It’s a talking point that’s tangible and relevant to my business. I could use large font data to share this takeaway in under twenty seconds and another twenty to spark a follow-up conversation. 

You should be able to do the same with yours. 

Large font data is an entry point for stories 

If you’re going to identify openings and tell a story that sticks, then you’re going to need large font data. The more surprising your data and the better you’re able to layer it, the more likely you’ll grab your audience’s attention. And the more attention you grab, the more credible and energetic your conversations will be. 

Tip: Think large and repeat. 

More soon.

Priority one: Don’t be boring. (OK, but how?)

Boring marketing happens. I’d rather it not happen to you. 

First, a personal note:   

I’ve had brushes with boring. Most were early in my career, when I felt boxed in, self-sequestered by convention. I pushed a little here and there, enough to leave an imprint but not enough to break molds. It’s an explanation, not an excuse. I learned from it.  

My model for boring/not boring is simple: invest in not boring and chances are the risk will be worth the return. Still it needs to be the right kind of not boring. I’ll elaborate. 

If you’re a marketer on point for content, campaigns, communications, customer stories - any form of inbound or outbound marketing -  the goal of not boring is incremental sales and long-term brand equity relative to your peers. There’s $$ in it; e.g. the ‘Return’ in the graphic above. And the cost of boring: invisibility + low returns. The choice is more in your court than you might think.   

*****

Ten bullets x 2

What’s boring:

1. Copying the style of others. Not only is this creatively underwhelming, it’s a vote of no-confidence in yourself and your team. Borrow selectively (every artist does); copy, no. There’s a difference and once you’ve told enough stories and engaged enough audiences, you’ll get it. Your customers already do.

2. Not having a style of your own. This is almost as painful as point (1). Unless you’re expressing a distinct attitude, you will fade into the background. Beige on beige is bad for profits.    

3. Not sharing new ideas. You will never expand your possibilities unless you reach out. Take your work for a walk among critical thinkers and risk the consequences. Most people won’t do this. Just think: You are not most people.   

4. Underdelivering. Not pushing your work to be distinct. Unless you search around each corner and think through every scenario with excellence as your intent, you’re underdelivering. Hard truth.  

5. Making life difficult on buyers and users; e.g. not being helpful. I see this all the time. Dear brand, Why are you sending me on a treasure hunt? If your communications aren’t making decisions easier for your target audience, they should be rewritten. Signal, always signal.

6. Regurgitating old material. Don’t be a one-hit wonder. Consider: Am I rocking this like Amadeus for the 1,100th time? If so, please pause and return at a later date. (That’s a Falco reference, BTW.)      

7. Me, me, me. A vapid technique often employed by companies who are starved for anything at all to say. Shine a spotlight on your customers and not yourself. It’s far more flattering.   

8. Features. I’m sure they’re awesome. But if you can’t tell your audience why your features are important and how they’ll solve a problem (in a measurable way), then they won’t move the needle.

9. Theoretical benefits. I’d rather not have to guess if your marketing is sending me to the fiction or nonfiction section. Make your offer true, tangible, achievable by me. In the digital world, anyone can say anything and they often do. Please make your claims real.   

10. Phoning it in by not innovating in formats and channels. Every hour, every day the market is moving. If you’re not meeting your audiences where, when, and how they’re hanging out, then it’s like you’re showing up for a costume party at the same time and address as last year when this year the party is black tie and a week later at a location a mile away. 

What’s not boring: 

1. Having a distinct point of view. This often begins with a fresh discovery or placing a new creative lens on an old conflict. You want to change the status quo, not uphold it and become a commodity.    

2. Creating your own unmatched style. When you enter a room (real or virtual), there should be no mistaking you for anyone else. Warning: If you’re good, expect imitation and do everything you can to remain one step ahead of it.  

3. Digging for new insights. Push the envelope. Even if you don’t find what you hoped to find or if the idea you thought had potential instead landed like a lead balloon, then at least you learned something. Fortune does not favor the timid because timid is boring.  

4. Overdelivering. Provide value in every exchange. Make me want to read what you write, watch what you produce, listen to what you have to say because it’s more than what anyone else in your field has considered let alone shared. Be very not normal here. 

5. Living on the path your customers travel. Internalize their problems, speak their language and regard it as poetry. If not, they will tune you out and chalk you up as …. zzzzz.   

6. Helping buyers and users of your product or service. They are under pressure to make effective decisions - for themselves, their team, company, and/or family. If they’re interested in you, assume they’ll give you twenty seconds (a generous estimate) to determine if learning more will be good for them. Point your audience to proven payoffs and don’t distract them with outdated or irrelevant material. Note this will require discarding content and concepts you might like but others don’t find helpful. Keep the helpful stuff and only the helpful stuff.  

7. Your customers, your customers, your customers. This is good old-fashioned respect. You exist for your customers and they will always be your best form of PR and advertising. And they’re never boring.

8. Validated benefits. Let's see them and illustrate how they came to be. Wrap them in authenticity. Communicate them in large font (so I don’t have to hunt for them) and update regularly.  

9. Being open and candid. Vulnerable. Because life is messy and the best way to hold an audience’s attention is to let them in. When you do, you make it worth their time and strike boredom from the equation.    

10. Taking chances. I saved this for #10 even though it’s the red thread of today’s post. If you’re not in an organization that encourages chances and know what to do with the chances worth taking, then you’re not growing. And if you’re not growing, then you’re not on the road to work that will get noticed. I want you to get noticed.

*****

I think the world counts on each of us in unique ways. Deliver your ideas with inimitable style, commitment, and conscientiousness and I promise you won’t be boring. Even better, you’ll be fully alive.  

Organizing principle No. 1 : A pyramid of marketing communications excellence. Because I want you to deliver awesome every day.

Where to start when it’s time to land an idea

All communication benefits from structure. Want to tell a memorable story? Make sure it has a beginning, middle, end, and a surprise baked in. Want to engage an audience with details on your latest widget? Be intentional. Organizing principles help. 

I’ve jotted the pyramid above on whiteboards and in slide decks, and mentioned it in conversation hundreds of times. I’ve put it to the test in my work and my team’s work. Observation proven by data: the pyramid holds up. And it holds up because it’s simple.

Caveat: I expect zero readers to faint at their standing desk upon viewing the Audience <-> Channel <-> Content (+ Why) pyramid. It’s a reinforcement not a revelation. That said, I’m accepting calls from anyone who believes their marketing communications couldn’t do a better job connecting each component.

Not theory, practice

If you’re going to transmit, receive, and convert, then you’ll need answers to questions that can be deceptively tough. Here’s a sample set for each of the pyramid’s three corners:    

• Audience: Who are you attempting to reach with your product or service and what are their motivations, wants, needs, fears, and incentives? Persona development can help here. Are you targeting buyers or users? What data do you have on engagement (brand-level) and conversions (demand-gen), demographics, psychographics, and budget? This can take time. In my experience, rushing to conclusions accelerates failure not success and teams that put more effort behind audience analysis + testing yield higher ROI.   

• Channel: What are your primary channels for reaching your target audience? How is your story likely to play out around your audience’s digital (or real-life) campfires? What do your KPIs say about whether or not you’re reaching your audience? How many versions of your story will you need to optimize every touchpoint? Pro tip: Don’t assume a great piece of content for one channel will work on others. Customize.

• Content (+ Style): What is your message or story and how are you packaging it? Does it speak to your audience’s needs? Is it differentiated? Does it convey your brand promise and character? Is it tailored to your primary channels? It can be tempting to think content before channel. I’ve tried it. However, success is channel before content and modifying content to suit your channels. Because if you can’t reach your audience with your content then your content isn’t going to be worth all that much.

Not local, global

Your communications won’t travel far without a convincing Why. Hence its position at the center of the pyramid, like the Eye of Providence.    

• Why is the reason you’re in business. Simple as that. It determines the audience you’re pursuing, the channel(s) where you can arrest their attention, and the content that will help them reach their goals. 

In practical terms, if your Why and supporting details are best showcased via long-form thought leadership or research, then hit the keyboard; if short-form videos on social media are the path to your audience’s heart, then supply and distribute accordingly; if blogs or how-to illustrations or name-your-category will convey your Why and compel action, then invest to win. And de-invest in assets that don’t perform as well. Net: Whatever you do, center your content strategy on your Why. There’s really no other way.   

I’ll use this post as an example

• Why: Because the battle for mindshare and conversions (e.g. delivering awesome) rewards those who hit the content and storytelling 🎯. 

• Audience: Senior-level brand and product marketers at fast-growing technology companies where there’s constant pressure to think strategically, reach customers in original ways, and spend wisely.  

• Channel: My blog and email list, website visitors, Medium, targeted social. This is a relatively long-form piece made for a 4-minute read rather than a 2-second (if that) glance.      

• Content: Copy + illustrations presented in an approachable style with personal references. Emphasis on pragmatic insights and explanations. Subtitles to break up the story and allow scanability on mobile devices. Not to exceed 750 words. 

Put your pyramid to work 

Test it with the knowledge that if it were easy, everyone would do it. The upside is that as far as I can tell, more should.  

Also: macro point: Keep your material as short as possible but no shorter than necessary. I’ll 🛑 here. 

Your turn 🟢.

👉 Link to additional blog posts and articles